Early Esoteric Shīʾite Conceptions of the Macrocosm-Microcosm Paradigm

From its early inception with the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 661), Shīʾism has been seen as an esoteric, mystical sect within the Islamic world. This presentation examines how the Platonic and Hermetic microcosm-macrocosm paradigm is present in three early Shīʾite philosophical works. By using a close reading methodology, I examine how the Book of Foundations, attributed to the fifth Shīʾite Imām, Muḥammad al-Bāqir (d. 732), the thought of the famous alchemist Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (lat. Geber) (d. 816), and the works of the Brethren of Purity (cir. 870 – 950), I prove that Hermeticism was a real and distinct school of Islamic philosophy in their conceptions of the microcosm-macrocosm paradigm. I argue that this ancient Greek philosophical concept played an essential role in Shīʾite Muslims' conception of their relationship to the universe.